Love Is, Love Is, Love Is
by Ayamegusa
Summary: Will Inuyasha and Kagome ever get together?


Characters of Inuyasha belong to Takahashi Rumiko

Love Is, Love Is, Love Is…

* * *

Shippou could not tear his eyes away from the shadow looming menacingly over his tiny body. Nor could his body move to face the person he knew was behind him. Was this person happy, angry, or a mixture of both? He couldn't really tell, because at that precise moment, the kitsune was much too afraid to be afraid of what, or who was behind him. Slowly, he swallowed, yet the action was almost too painful to bear, and so he coughed to clear his throat.

"That's quite a cough you have there, Shippou." The dark voice continued, the tone of his voice still difficult to decipher. "I do hope you're not getting sick. After all, what kind of friend would I be if I let my best buddy, in the whole world, get sick? I would be so ashamed of myself. That is why," and to Shippou's utter dread, it was indeed Inuyasha who was addressing him, it was Inuyasha who decided to sit next to him, and it was Inuyasha who decided to place his hand right on his shoulder. "I have decided to keep my favourite little guy, company. So that we may spend lots, and lots of quality time together, just you and me, man to man, without _anyone_ here to disturb us."

It was from these very words that the kitsune began to shake violently, so violently, that even his tail felt the vibrations of his movements. Somehow he knew from his voice alone that he was in trouble. Yet there was also some part of his mind that was unwilling to be blamed. According to him, his mind reasoned, was that Shippou had done nothing but try to get the most stubborn people he knew, together. It was not like he was concocting any of his more devious plans of kitsune craft. He was just trying to get them to realise of what was in front of them the whole time they had been together.

Shippou's grand plan, with Rin's help, was to spread rumours about Kagome being pregnant with Inuyasha's child. They had only needed to tell two people for the rumour to spread like wildfire, while not raising suspicions from the other members of their group.

Kaede was more than willing to accept the 'good' news, as if she had been anticipating for it even before he had met with the pair. And even though he had been a little reluctant when Rin suggested that Sesshoumaru should also be one of the first to know the story, who knew the Tai-youkai would have been such a gossip.

They had everything planned, and everything was ruined, by Inuyasha's meddling. The kitsune should have known that the hanyou would always, always ruin everything. Yes, it was his entire fault. Here he was, trying to do something nice for him, and he had to ruin it, his one chance of happiness with the miko of the future.

_Yeah, this is your fault, Inuyasha! Baka!!_

Now with anger the only thing bubbling in his head, he glared at the hanyou, daring him to the challenge.

Inuyasha looked back at Shippou, and smiled.

Shippou blanched.

"How long have we known each other, Shippou?"

The question caught Shippou's attention, making him lose all concentration of how angry he was with the hanyou. He cocked his head to one side, and gave him a look of puzzlement, to which Inuyasha repeated the question with the same tone that Shippou was unable to interpret.

"How long…? Well…I guess…quite a while?" Shippou answered, hoping his vagueness would be enough of a response.

"That long, eh? My, where does the time go?"

Shippou nodded, uneasily.

"I mean, you've been with us for so long," the hanyou continued while looking at his clawed hand. "So long, and I never had the chance to give you some fighting lessons."

"What?"

"Fighting lessons, Shippou, my goodness what's the matter with you? You're so out of it today." Inuyasha said, looking down at a somewhat dumfounded kitsune. "Or is it…oh I see…"

Shippou was struck by a sudden sense of guilt when he saw Inuyasha turn away from him in shame, though he didn't know how or why he felt this way. Nervously he walked around the hanyou to peer at his hidden face.

"You don't want to be taught by a hanyou, is that it? You'd rather have a strong youkai, like Sesshoumaru or Kouga, to teach you. I understand… I'm too weak for anybody."

The sense of guilt grew stronger, the throbbing, painful in his small chest. Shippou couldn't believe that he was saying such things, none of which were true. Though he would admit that playing tricks on him was the most fun he ever had in his life, Inuyasha was the last person he would call weak.

"You're not weak." Shippou jumped onto his shoulder and tapped him on the cheek while smiling timidly. "You never were."

"Really?" the hanyou replied, yet still not looking at him, "Then…you will let me teach you?"

"Of course, I always wanted to learn from you."

"I am so happy, Shippou. I thought that you never liked me. You always seemed to pick on me for some reason. I could never figure out why. But today…today," he began to laugh a little. "Don't worry, Shippou, I'll do my best to train you."

However, his beam of enthusiasm turned into something of horror, when he saw with wide eyes, Inuyasha pulling out Tessaiga from its scabbard.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Shippou asked, not liking how Inuyasha was looking at the blade with such a gleam in his eyes.

"Training."

"With…Tessaiga…? Isn't that a bit much, I mean for a first lesson?"

"Not at all, Shippou, I've seen your skills first hand. I feel that it would be insulting if I used any lesser methods of instruction to teach you."

He could feel the first wave of panic starting to creep up on him as he stared uncomfortably at the sharp blade. There was something about Inuyasha's tone that made him…

Shippou shivered. He knew that he was in trouble, to put it lightly.

"I just like to ask, before we start, you're not…angry, are you?"

"Oh," Inuyasha began slowly, bringing down Tessaiga with such force, it caused the kitsune to topple backwards. "I think you know already."

"I think I had enough training for one day." Shippou stated shakily, quickly avoiding another seemingly casual swipe of the blade from the dreaded Tessaiga.

Inuyasha's smile broadened. "No, I think not," and with those final words, he brought his fist down to connect with the kitsune's head.

Shippou blacked out.

* * *

The first thing Shippou did when he finally entered consciousness was to groan from the sudden headache pounding against his skull. The second thing Shippou noticed, after the blurry images slowly became recognisable, was his face, his awful face, staring at him with that awful smile.

Immediately, Shippou puffed out in anger, "Why'd you hit me, you crazy person?!"

Inuyasha, who was holding the runt by his tail, deaf to all of his insults, finally reached his destination: Sesshoumaru. He walked right into the Tai-youkai's view, and gently placed the irate child in front of his face.

"And what is this?" Sesshoumaru asked, his icy tones blowing directly into Shippou's face.

"Why, it's your apprentice, my dear brother."

Sesshoumaru answered in silence.

"I knew you'd be thrilled," Inuyasha continued, unfazed, "Shippou here, was going on all day about how he always admired you as a Tai-youkai. A Tai-youkai with power, strength, grace, and all that wonderful shit that is you, Sesshoumaru. What do you say?"

"I said no such thing!" Shippou shouted.

"You want me to eat him? No thank you. All that fur would be bad for my digestion."

"Ha!" The younger brother replied, slapping Sesshoumaru on the back, "You and your sense of humour."

"I didn't find that very funny." Shippou muttered. However, much to his dismay, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were not listening.

"Just look at him, small, nimble, quick witted. And he has small hands. Good for those hard to reach places. Like ah...let's say," Inuyasha pointed his eyes towards the mud sodden pelt lying sadly on one of the lower branches of a tree.

"Apprentice, you say?" Sesshoumaru asked, seriously contemplating his proposition. He looked at his moko-moko with the faintest emotion of misery. His poor moko-moko; how it suffered from all this torture at the hands of someone like his brother. It was only a small mercy that he had not used his _claws_ as means of attacking such a delicate and fragile victim.

"Well he is a youkai; it's only natural that he should learn from a superior being, such as you." Inuyasha smirked.

"I'm not learning anything thing from that bastard!" Shippou protested.

"See how uncouth he is?" Inuyasha interrupted. "I beg you to teach him."

The older brother looked towards the hanyou, and then to Shippou's horror, he smirked, and the kitsune realised just how similar the two brothers really were, freakishly so. _Oh boy..._

hr

Rin sighed happily as she looked at the clouds floating by with a lazy ease. There were only a few times she could just sit and do nothing but watch life go by, without having to worry about if she had enough to eat or drink. Fortunately, she did not need to worry about such things, ever since she had begun travelling with her Lord. From all the things she admired about her Lord, the most dearest to her heart, was the fact that he allowed her to stay with him, without ever once questioning why she followed him. But today, things were a little different, as she had to stay with Sesshoumaru's younger brother, Inuyasha, for a while. Rin had to say, that staying with Inuyasha was one of the best times she had ever experienced. It was always lots of fun when she was around him and his friends, especially when it allowed her the opportunity of cheekiness to seep through.

Quite unlike the sweet little girl who followed obediently after the Tai-youkai.

Inuyasha, who was sitting down against the wall of the wall, also sighed.

"I never heard you sigh like that before." Miroku commented.

"I know, isn't it wonderful? There is a certain aura of peace around us."

"I've never seen you smile like that either." Miroku said with a thoughtful look on his face. "I know! You and Kagome-sama finally had se—" He was quickly silenced by the hanyou's hand covering over his mouth.

"You never stop thinking about that do you?!" hissed a red-faced hanyou. "Anyway, you shouldn't say such things around…her."

"Say what things, Inu-no oji-chan?" Rin asked, perking up in interest.

"Nothing." the hanyou replied. "Only the bonzu here is being a hentai."

Rin, being the innocent child that she was, asked what the meaning of hentai was, to which Inuyasha promptly replied, "It's when people like Miroku here, like to imagine he can, or like seeing other people having se—" But the houshi quickly covered his mouth before he could finish the sentence.

"Rin," Miroku replied sweetly, "your uncle, Inuyasha, will tell you when you're a bit older, all right?"

The little girl pouted and said nothing more.

The hanyou watched as Rin lay on the grass and promptly went to sleep, her sleeping face causing a smile to form on his face. "Isn't she the sweetest thing?"

"Ooh, don't let Kagome-sama hear you say that."

"Why not?"

"Surely you have seen them. Those two are like silent enemies, always vying for you attentions. Very violent," Miroku sighed miserably. "I wish I had two women to fight over me."

"Don't be an idiot, bonzu. Believe me; it's not worth the trouble. Besides, shouldn't you be with Sango right now, doing that thing you do, to her? Not that." Inuyasha said when he saw the lecherous look on his face, "Romancing her or something!"

"Ah! I wish I could, my friend, but currently she is engaged with a conversation with Kaede-dono, a conversation which I cannot partake in. And now I have to spend my time with you, enjoyable as it might be. But it would have been more enjoyable if you were of the...womanly persuasion."

"I don't fucking believe this." The hanyou replied exasperatedly. "Just when I thought I finally got rid of that stupid runt and his pregnancy pranks, I get stuck with a houshi whose thoughts are anything but holy."

Miroku started laughing, "I was only joking, Inuyasha. You have to learn how to relax. It's no good for you to be so tense all the time. I mean, that prank that Shippou pulled…it was all for good fun, wasn't it? Nobody got hurt. Not even you were complaining. Am I right, or am I right? I wonder…how far it would have gone if you hadn't found out?" His musings stalled however, when he received a warning look from the hanyou, and so he wisely changed the subject to a much safer level. "Where is he anyway? It has been a lot quieter ever since this morning."

He never replied, only smirked arrogantly, yet that was enough for the houshi to understand its meaning.

* * *

Shippou paused to observe his handiwork, and also to rest his weary arms and back from the constant scrubbing he had done in the past few hours. Picking up one section of fur from Sesshoumaru's mokomoko-sama, he sniffed at it to make sure there was no residual smells of dirt and mud. Fortunately his prayers had been answered as there was no such smell on the pelt, and this allowed Shippou to give out a sigh of relief.

_Now, for the rest of it…_ He readied himself, and with what strength he had left, he gingerly picked up the fur and placed it onto the bank to dry off in the sun, only to look back in misery at the remaining parts of the moko-moko that had not been washed yet. Shippou groaned, partly because his whole body ached from scrubbing Sesshoumaru's 'precious' fur pelt for half of the day, and partly because he didn't know what he did to deserve such cruel treatment. Surely spreading rumours – harmless rumours – should not have resulted in a punishment such as this one.

"That baka, just you wait…" he huffed.

"Do you want any help with that, Shippou?" Kohaku, the boy slayer asked. He had been watching the kitsune try to wash the stubborn stains off the mokomoko-sama for most of the day, all with little or no success whatsoever.

"No, I'm a man, and I can take my punishment like one." Shippou replied, sticking his nose in the air in defiance.

"Are you sure? There is a lot of—"

"There is a small spot over there." Shippou quickly said before Kohaku could finish his sentence. "No matter how much I wash it, it just doesn't seem to want to come out."

Kohaku let out a small smile as he kneeled down on the edge of the bank, observing the mess on the pelt. He grimaced at the sight. "What kind of devil could have done such a thing?"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Bone Eater's well, a hanyou clad in red with snow white hair, sneezed, loudly.

* * *

"I don't know why I deserve such treatment." Shippou ranted, "It's just a harmless rumour."

"But saying Kagome-sama was pregnant with his child...it's not very tactful."

"I go through all this work, playing matchmaker for them, and Inuyasha doesn't even appreciate me for what I did for him. He instead sends me here to do child labour. He probably doesn't even care if he ended up with Kagome or not."

"Aren't Inuyasha-sama and Kagome-sama together anyway? What does it matter if they haven't declared their love yet, as long as they are together, then everything is good, isn't it?"

"You don't understand them like I do." Shippou said as he furiously scrubbed at the fur with his tiny hands. "If you saw them, you would be as frustrated as I am. Even Rin has tried too, by making Kagome jealous, but for some reason it just makes her angry, really angry. Sometimes I just don't get them. They're in love, I know it, and everyone else knows it. Why do they have to be so stubborn about it?"

"Maybe it would be better if you just left them alone."

"No," he scrunched his nose in thought. "That would never work."

Kohaku sighed, "If you say so. But really, is it _that_ important to get them together, to openly declare their love?"

"Yes. Just like Miroku, he declares his love for Sango every day."

"Oh, how does he do that?"

"By rubbing her bottom," he casually answered.

Kohaku's face whitened. He never realised that it was possible for someone as strong-minded as his sister, to have fallen for someone who declared his love in such an odd way. _My sister is in love with a pervert..._ "So what you're saying," he began slowly, "is that you want Inuyasha-sama to declare his love by rubbing her bottom?"

"Yes." Shippou blinked, and shook his head. "No. That's not what I meant. I just want to see them argue less, and maybe a little kissing would be nice. I've never seen them kiss."

"I still say it's better to leave them alone."

All of a sudden, Shippou had a brilliant idea. He could ask Kohaku to help him, he was a ninja after all, and people who knew the craft were excellent at stealth and doing their dirty work under the cover of darkness.

"I am not a ninja. I am a youkai taijiya."

Kohaku would be perfect for his plan, and revenge. With his help, he was sure that his next plot would work. Crossing his arms and closing his eyes, his brain began to think, and a scheme began to bubble in his mind. _You won't know what hit you, Inuyasha. _

"I won't help you." Kohaku said flatly, yet he could already tell that the kitsune was not listening.

A smirk formed on Shippou's face. He started to shake, and then he started to laugh.

Yet his laughter was short lived, when he became well aware of an imposing presence, right behind him, breathing cold air down his neck. "I do not recall giving you permission to laugh while you are under my presence. Laughing shows a lack in discipline. Laughing will result in punishment."

With his whole body shaking, his green eyes faced the Tai-youkai. He did not like what he saw. "I'll just finish washing your mokomoko-sama, if that is alright with you."

"That would be a very wise decision."

* * *

"...What was this emotion, as the young woman looked into her lover's eyes?" Inuyasha read from one of Kagome's romance novels, which Rin insisted that he read to her. She sat, eyes wide and of full attention, while the miko, despite being entranced by his voice as he read, sat fuming, wishing of all things that the little girl would go back to Sesshoumaru and stay there. "Was it love she saw? Was it love in her eyes when the young man gazed back? Who could really tell, or really say? For love is such a strange thing to try to explain. It is something one reveres or fears, or both, because it is not merely something one can grasp and explain, like the cold realities of science, nor, once infected by this growing disease, can one explain how it came to be. No one knows what love is, or even prove that it exists. It is, just there. And it will get you, no matter how much you resist.

"Love is, is, and forever will be, one of the most plaguing mysteries of the human nature." Inuyasha shut the book, much to Rin's disappointment, and to Kagome's as well, who had been listening and grabbing on to his every word.

"Promise Rin that you will read more tomorrow?" the little girl asked, jumping on to his lap.

"Will you stop frightening him like that?!" Kagome answered before Inuyasha could utter a word, dragging the girl off and placing her next to Kirara. "Don't make me ask Kirara to," she silently mouthed the words to show that she was not joking, "sit on you."

"What did you say Kagome-sama?" Rin asked.

"Just go to sleep."

Rin shut her eyes.

Sango, who had remained as silent as possible so far, could stand it no longer and asked the hanyou if he was really telling the truth about Kohaku actually staying with them for a while. On first hearing the news, she was reluctant to except it, yet at his insistence her hopes were raised. She could not really believe that her younger brother would finally be with her, talking with her, together as siblings should. But the night had gone on without her once spotting his face, and she had been saddened by this.

"What...what if he doesn't want to see me at all?" she whispered.

"Sango," Miroku said, covering her hand with his, "I'm sure he is just shy."

"Shy?!" the hanyou replied, rather irately. "Fuck that. Come on bonzu, let's go find him." And the two men left, only to come back a few minutes later, dragging Kohaku, who tried in vain to escape Inuyasha's iron grip around his waist, behind them, before promptly dropping him in front of Sango.

"Well, go on," Inuyasha began, pushing the boy lightly on the shoulder. "Your own sister won't bite you for just saying hello."

"H-h-hello..." Kohaku blushed while looking at the ground.

"Come on, you can say more than that. Ask how she is, and all that."

"Don't push him, Inuyasha." Kagome said. "It has been a long time for both of them. We should leave them alone."

"No, I'm staying here so the boy doesn't decide to run off again."

"Oh...all right." Kagome stood up, though a bit reluctantly, and strolled out of the campsite carrying a small bag for her herbal soaps, shampoo, and a spare change of clothes. She hadn't wanted to sound disappointed at Inuyasha for ignoring her while he looked after Rin and Kohaku; it was the fact that she now had no chance of getting him alone while they were around to spoil things, especially Rin. So, with a heavy heart, the young miko left to bathe alone, with little hope that she would get the back massage Inuyasha had promised her earlier.

Kagome reached the onsen and proceeded to undress. Gently, she dipped her feet into the warm water, and walked in, sighing as the water began its magic to sooth her tired body. _This is nice..._ She then looked over her shoulder, a habit she had picked up a long time ago, yet it was not a sign that she was scared of some being taking a chance to attack her.

For a long time, Kagome had known that whenever she took a bath alone, it wasn't long until he showed up to 'make sure that she was safe', as he always liked to put it. At first, it had completely taken her by surprise, not to mention a few red faces to match the awkwardness of the new discovery. She never would have thought that Inuyasha would dare do such a thing as to secretly watch over her while she took a bath. It was more likely he would be willing to face a thousand youkai than have to look longingly into her eyes. But after the initial shock, Kagome found that she never really minded, because Inuyasha was dignified enough to not look at her while she bathed.

"I wished he would..."

And now the miko waited patiently for him to arrive, whilst giggling at the thoughts running through her head.

* * *

_Finally, maybe now I can get some sleep..._ Inuyasha stretched out his arms and then placed them behind his head, a relaxed position, yet his mind was anything but. He never knew why his brother started his habit of dumping not only Rin, but Kohaku as well, to his care. Not that he was really complaining, but was it necessary for him to look after such big responsibilities while they were still searching for Naraku?

Immediately, Inuyasha's eyes snapped open in anger. _He'd better not be trying to kill the bastard off before I do! _His ears flicked at a sudden sound ripping through the forest with such intensity, that Inuyasha would have cringed if not for the fact he recognised the woman's screams of terror.

_No, Kagome! _

He snarled, dashing through the dense forest, while ignoring the branches scratching at his face, and the long grass grabbing at his legs. There was nothing in his mind but that scream, her scream, and, if he wasn't there soon enough—

Inuyasha did not even dare think of such possibilities. His instincts told him to run, and run he did, until he found what he was searching for, behind the cover of the bushes, the distressed miko screaming for help.

"Kagome!" he roared as he broke through the branches and leaves without care. The Tessaiga flew out of its scabbard, its deadly blade swishing this way and that, ready for battle. "Where is it?!" Seconds passed, minutes passed, but the hanyou still stood with his knees slightly bent, his katana in front of him, and his eyes darting around for any movements around him. As the minutes slowed down, Inuyasha began to realise his eyes being unconsciously drawn to one particular image in the area. He hadn't noticed it at first, only thought he had seen something that looked fleshed coloured, but the more he saw this image, the more it was made clear to him, and the more clearer he saw this image, the more he began to realise just where his thoughts were going.

"Kagome...," he gulped while his toes curled and uncurled in nervousness, "you're naked," and he said nothing more but to stare at the curves that made the shape of her body, which no doubt led his mind to further distractions from reality. What an image his eyes were blessed with, her skin so radiant under the moonlight, the way her dark hair curled a little from being recently washed. A vision of beauty, and best of all, she was...

"...Naked..." he whispered, the thought repeating itself over and over again.

At the same time, Kagome stood there, confused as to why Inuyasha had come running in, full of fury in response to her cries of help, only to suddenly stand there, motionless, with his amber eyes glazed over as if he had been suddenly hypnotized by something. The longer he stood there staring at her with a face which eerily reminded her of a certain houshi, the more conscious she became of her predicament, or, to put it more simply, Kagome noticed how the winds had picked up and were currently blowing in her direction, making her feel a certain kind of naked feeling.

Kagome shrieked, quickly covering her chest with her arms. "I'm naked! Inuyasha, will you stop staring at me like that!" And the hanyou did just that, turning his head away in embarrassment from being caught staring for too long, again. To make matters worse, his ears started to twitch when he heard the sounds of feet running, towards them. But it wasn't some form of enemy youkai sneaking in an attack on his presently vulnerable miko, nor was it Naraku trying to ambush them. Even he wasn't that cruel.

No, this enemy was much, much worse.

"Kagome-chan!"

"Inuyasha, are you two all right?"

**"NO! DON'T COME IN HERE!!"** Kagome and Inuyasha shouted simultaneously.

"But we heard you screaming for help." Sango said from behind the bushes which were conveniently blocking their view.

"That's because I was attacked." Kagome replied, red faced.

"Was it a youkai?" Miroku asked.

"No, much worse! Some idiot stole all of my clothing!"

"Oh...really?" the houshi grinned. "This is serious, we must investigate." He stepped forward, only to be dragged back by Sango with a complimentary bump on his head. The woman slayer ran back to camp to get her friend's yellow backpack, but all she found was Rin sleeping, and her younger brother looking thoughtfully into the flames of the fire. She asked him if he had seen Kagome's backpack, which he replied by shaking his head. Thus, Sango walked back, empty handed.

"What do you mean, you couldn't find it? It has to be there! Please, Sango-chan, can you go look for it again? It couldn't have just disappeared like that. I can't go walking around like this." She then said to Inuyasha, on the verge of teary anger. "Miroku-sama will never stop talking about it, and no one takes you seriously when you got no clothes on."

"Here." Inuyasha said as he took off his fire-rat haori to give to the miko, "Just so that the bonzu doesn't get any funny ideas." He for one did not want to find out what ideas would pop into Miroku's head if he ever saw Kagome with fewer clothes than usual.

The miko eyed the red clothing with curiosity, and with something else which made her heart beat faster, "C-can I?"

He simply nodded, blushed, and then turned away.

"Wait...," she said before Inuyasha had the chance to run. "Could you...um...wash my back for me. After all," Kagome looked away, shyly, "you did promise me this morning."

"I thought you said you wanted a massage."

"You...could do that as well."

Inuyasha's eyes widened at a sudden thought. "You mean...r-r-right now? In there?"

"You can come in with me." The young woman replied without realising how bold she had sounded. Perhaps it was because she somehow forgotten that Sango and Miroku were still behind the bushes, listening to their whole conversation while being wise enough not to say anything in their presence.

"I-in with you?" the hanyou stuttered. "R-right now?" he gulped when he saw the young woman nod, almost mischievously. Not once did he remember the last time she asked such a daring request, and to ask him while she wore nothing but her skin. There was no doubt it gave him a strange sense of joy and awkwardness, mostly of the latter, until confusion decided to join in the chorus of giving hell to the young hanyou's mind. All he could do was stare at the young woman in front of him while wondering if this was truly a dream, or that Kami had decided to give him a break at last. And because of this, he had somehow forgotten that Sango and Miroku were still behind the bushes, listening to their whole conversation while being wise enough not to say anything in their presence, though Sango was having trouble holding the houshi's mouth to stop him from speaking, or laughing.

"Y-you won't mention this to anyone?" He asked shakily as he prepared to take off his clothes.

Kagome smiled, her eyes sparkling from the reflection of the water.

"Don't worry, Inuyasha," a voice answered. A voice which certainly did not come from the miko, "We won't say anything..."

* * *

Sango couldn't help but stare at the houshi in front of her, who had his wrists and ankles tied together, causing him to hop in an awkward way, and a blindfold over his eyes to prevent him from seeing anything. If only Miroku had not decided to open his mouth and voice the first thing to pop into his mind, then perhaps Inuyasha wouldn't have gotten so mad from being interrupted from his romantic interlude with the miko. Not that she was any less guilty from being caught sitting right next to the houshi, listening to the whole conversation between the couple. But at least she wasn't the one being punished.

"Sango, Sango! Say something in my defence. Tell Inuyasha that it was simply a misunderstanding, an honest mistake." Miroku said somewhat desperately while hopping around. "I just wanted to encourage them."

"Kagome-chan," Sango replied, running to the young miko. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be there while you and Inuyasha were having some...some...," she blushed, "some time together. I just heard you screaming and thought you were being attacked."

"Sango, what about me, don't I get a mention?"

"Don't worry about it, Sango-chan." Kagome smiled. "I guess these things just happen."

Miroku's mouth fell open. "Inuyasha, why can't you be forgiving like them? Forgive and forget; that is what friends do."

"No, I can't, because I am being a bastard today."

"Well, can you at least untie my ankles? It's bad enough that I have to have this blindfold on. You're not going to make me jump around like this all day. It's embarrassing, especially for my dear Sango."

Rin looked at Kohaku, who was walking beside her, with a clear expression of disappointment at their failure of getting the hanyou and miko to spend a few moments alone. This time she had been sure that her latest plan would have at least allowed them to bathe together, yet who would have guessed that Sango and Miroku, their closest friends, would be the ones to ruin such a perfect and flawless plan.

_Why?_

At least there was one consolation. The young miko was now wearing Inuyasha's haori, even though her clothes and yellow bag had 'mysteriously' returned in the morning, she didn't seem to notice, and he didn't seem to mind her wearing his clothing.

But still...

_Why?_

Kohaku looked back, shrugging his shoulders in reply, while mulling over why and how Rin was able to convince him so easily to go through with her plan without any complaints. Was it because of the fact that she was a girl with a sweet smile and pretty eyes? He blushed and looked to the sky for a distraction. What he found was a large, ominous shadow looming over him, landing gracefully before Inuyasha with a cold gleam in his eyes.

Sesshoumaru, with a casual flick of his silvery hair, flicked the barely conscious kitsune to the awaiting arms of his younger brother.

"What a pathetic creature." He said. "You said he was a good cleaner. This is the result." He shoved the mokomoko-sama at his face.

Inuyasha grimaced. "Well...he's only young. You can't expect him to know straight away. Poor, poor, Shippou, he must be so tired from all that training."

Shippou only groaned, more than likely from the pain in his muscles.

"That is not an excuse." He glanced at his claws, ready to punish the insolent hanyou for his annoyance and utter lack of respect for one's property. Claws glowing green in anger, he was about to strike, when to his amazement, something else had struck him, causing his whole body to stiffen. Leaning in closer still, his eyes appeared to inspect something, which made Inuyasha suddenly very nervous and conscious of his appearance, for some reason. Sesshoumaru raised a delicate eyebrow, sniffed, and a hint of a smirk appeared on his face. Stepping back, he gave his younger brother a thoughtful look, a look which was quite unlike his other looks involving a killer glare before the actual attempt at killing him. It was the first time Inuyasha had ever seen his face in such a way, but that did not mean he was any more comfortable by it.

Sesshoumaru breathed in, deeply, slowly, saying, "You look different. Did you comb your hair?"

The question startled him. However it was his face that told a very different story.

"Yes... I see," he said with a grin, and with a flash of light, he vanished before Inuyasha could manage an answer.

Sango walked up to the hanyou to examine the new discovery, while trying to hold in her smile threatening to spread all over her face.

"W-what?" he tried to say.

"Nothing, nothing at all," she suppressed a giggle.

"What? What is it, Sango?" Miroku cried out, almost bumping into a tree. "I want to see too, really I do."

Inuyasha stole a look from Kagome, but blushed when his eyes met hers. They both looked away, finding their feet more interesting than the surroundings and spectators around them.

At this, Rin smiled at the couple, nudging Kohaku beside her to look also. He watched them with a funny look on his face, which Sango caught straight away, her eyes narrowing at his strange behaviour ever since he joined their group. Being the older sister, she knew many oddities about her younger brother, and she could sense whenever he was up to something. This was one of those times.

"Are you all right, Kohaku?" in her brown eyes burned another question. _What are you up to?_

The boy quickly shook his head in the negative, though he already knew his sister did not believe him.

"You look very nice, Inu-no oji-chan." Rin latched onto his arm while Kagome fumed silently, clenching her fists in attempts to quell her growing anger. "So handsome..."

"Ka-Kagome...what's wrong?" sensing danger from her reaction, Inuyasha said little else in case he found out that the miko was in a bad mood.

"Nothing," she seethed pleasantly, "absolutely nothing at all."

"I bet all the girls will like you now, Inu-no oji-chan."

"No... Not really." he replied, starting to feel rather uncomfortable.

"But Rin will be the only one that loves you."

Immediately, with one big leap, Kagome jumped in front of Inuyasha, using her size to block the little girl's view of the hanyou. Breathing heavily, though trying her best to contain her anger because the girl was only young, unfortunately, she addressed her in usual calm manner. "You really have some nerve, don't you? You think you can come here and declare your love to him, just like that? You can't, you can't, you can't. I don't know what you're up to, but I want you to understand this: If you think you can steal him, you have to deal with me first." She then ran off down the path, her arm locked around the hanyou's, causing him to follow in an awkward manner, almost tripping a couple of times as his legs criss-crossed to keep balance.

Rin only smiled.

* * *

Kagome sighed happily, running her hand down Inuyasha's arm while they sat together against the trunk of an old tree, hopefully where no one could find them. They had spent their time alone reading the next chapter of Kagome's romance novel, though by the end of the chapter, Inuyasha had begun complaining about how any decent woman could instantly fall in love with a man that had hacked a monster into bloody pieces in front of her eyes. Obviously he did not understand the concept of the 'Damsel in distress' and 'Love at first sight', the fairytale romance. She had tried to explain it to him, yet his stubbornness was unrelenting. An argument had followed, which was resolved a few minutes later when the young woman attacked the hanyou with her kisses.

"You know, we never get to spend any time alone these days. Somehow we always get interrupted, by everybody. You don't think we're cursed, do you?"

No reply came however, only a soft snoring noise. Kagome nudged at his shoulder and found that he had indeed fallen asleep, his head leaning forward, giving a full view of his ears, his soft, furry, puppy ears. They teasingly beckoned her subconscious as Kagome tried her best to shut her eyes from such a tempting sin, in vain.

_No... No, I must be strong and resist. _

She looked at his ears.

They flicked cutely back in response.

_Maybe he won't notice..._

Before her hands could move any closer towards his ears in attempt to rub them, she was suddenly met with angry amber eyes staring directly into hers. Kagome gulped and began to laugh nervously, unable to take her eyes away from his gaze.

"Just what did you think you were about to do, Kagome?" Inuyasha growled quietly.

"Nothing, nothing at all, you're only dreaming."

"Really... So...you weren't about to rub my ears, were you."

"Only," she smiled sheepishly, "a little, a few minutes."

"Yeah right, you say that. But the last time I came to your time, instead of doing that school stuff, you spent the whole afternoon rubbing them, and giggling like a little girl."

"I...did not." Kagome lied, blushing hotly in anger. "Besides, who was the one enjoying it?! Who was the one purring like a cat and leaning in for more?"

"Why... You... Enjoy?! You... Stupid..."

"What was that?" exclaimed the woman, having a sudden sensation of dread fill her body.

"Don't change the subject!" Inuyasha stood still and listened also to the strange sound rumbling from somewhere behind them. The noise grew louder as they turned around, fearing any sudden moves would become a disadvantage for them. The miko squeezed his arm a little tighter; her own weapons nowhere to be found, having mysteriously disappeared while she had been distracted by Inuyasha's amber eyes, and lips. But now was not the time to be regretting such things, because the creature chose its moment to appear, a disfigured shadow at first, then slowly, slowly it took shape, which only added to the horrid noise it was making, a terrible beast indeed.

The thing glared down at them with large, bulging, manic eyes. Strange, furry arms waved around menacingly. It gave another terrible growl which appeared to make the whole creature vibrate.

"A youkai?" she whispered.

The beast roared.

"Shippou?" both Kagome and Inuyasha said, slowly.

For a whole second, the thing seemed to stop in midair, hovering just above them with a curiously frightened look in its large eyes.

"I thought so," the hanyou snarled, grabbing one of the arms of the transformed kitsune and pulling him roughly to the ground with a thump.

Shippou, with a puff of smoke, transformed back to his usual self, his whole costume of furs and seaweed, and other strange things, falling off his body, revealing a nervously grinning kitsune. He couldn't say anything; simply because he knew even one word would earn him another session of Inuyasha's so called 'training sessions'.

"Going to explain?" was Inuyasha's reply, holding fast onto the collar of his clothes.

"I...was just trying to be scary." He waved his arms around for effect.

"Oh, how cute, he was trying to scare us." Kagome giggled as she pinched his cheeks.

"Wait...you weren't scared?" Shippou asked, looking disbelievingly at the miko. He felt for sure that she would be terrified by his disguise. After all, he had copied it from the picture he'd seen in Kagome's book, and she had been afraid then.

So what was he doing wrong?

Besides the fact that he looked more like an overgrown stuffed teddy bear with seaweed tentacles than a vicious monster, the kitsune did not have a clue.

"Do you want to know what's scary?" Inuyasha asked, smiling. **"ME."** He towered over the kitsune, his eyes suddenly murderous, the dark shadows on his face making the amber colour more feral. He made a swipe for the runt, but Shippou being a small and agile youkai, avoided the attack, running for his life out of the hanyou's sight, "What the fuck was that all about?! He pops out of nowhere to play his tricks. One day, Kagome, I'm going to fucking dangle him on the highest branch, above a pack of hungry wolves. Well...," he blushed in embarrassment after seeing her face, "maybe a herd of very angry rabbits." Heaving a sigh, his anger vanished, leaving something else in its place.

"I've got a headache."

And so not knowing what else to do, Inuyasha offered Kagome a lift to the old Bone Eater's well for a much needed respite. It wasn't long until they reached the well, though the miko was reluctant to leave Inuyasha alone, especially with Rin still lurking about with her cheeky grin causing trouble. She was still miffed at the little girl's open declaration of love to the hanyou, something she herself wanted to do someday, _Someday..._ Kagome began to wonder if she would be ever able to say those words to him without hesitation or fear. But for now, she was content to hold him, to be as close as she wanted to be.

Lifting her head, she gazed into his eyes.

He looked back at her.

Kagome blushed. Perhaps there wasn't the need to say anything at all.

With one last kiss to his cheek, she swung her legs over the edge of the well and jumped in.

Silence...

...And then—

Inuyasha had not even left the clearing when his ears swivelled to her screams of terror. In a flash, he was at the entrance of the well, shouting her name as he jumped in. As his vision adjusted to the darkness, he became increasingly aware of some strange presence in the well with them. There was no aura he could detect besides Kagome's and his own, and yet, it was something...something that made his stomach lurch painfully. He heard the miko whimper for help, and he took a step towards her.

"Ka-Kagome..."

"Save me, save me, Inuyasha, please!" She jumped into his arms, her hands clinging onto his shoulders, as if her life depended on it. "They're everywhere, looking at me."

"Who?"

"Kami, Inuyasha, I can't take much more of this. First Rin, then people spreading rumours of me being pregnant with your baby, my things conveniently disappearing here and there, and, and now this. Just look...look down there, do you see them? Look at them, down there, all wriggling and laughing at me."

He looked down.

* * *

"You'll come back and visit, won't you, Kohaku?" Sango asked, hugging her younger brother.

In reply, he nodded his head and was about to turn to leave with Rin, when he saw something happening at the well which made his heart twinge with guilt.

"But I told you a million times, Inuyasha. I never put those worms down there! Honest!"

"Why do I have a hard time believing you, Shippou? It's one thing to pick on me, but when you start pestering Kagome...scaring her with your tricks..." he shook his head, "Shame on you."

"It's a conspiracy. Someone set me up!"

"Will you tell Kagome-sama how sorry I am, Ane-ue? I've been such a nuisance to her, and everyone." The boy slayer ran off before Sango could answer, but one look at the kitsune cleaning up the masses of worms from inside of the well, proved more than enough an answer to her question.

Sango rolled her eyes.

_Not you too..._

The end.


End file.
